The Power of the Harmoniously Combined

Tag Archives: Science

It’s felt everywhere; and it’s lack of feeling is noticeable to those who ponder these things:

Synergy. I think that I began to use this word back when I was exposed to it in Earth Science in Rutland High, in Rutland, Vermont. The way it was explained to our class was this:

There are certain partnerships in nature, where the benefit is greater for both than it would be had they done their own thing. Think…moss on a tree.

One of the dictionary.com definitions is this:

1.

the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions…

Perhaps where this is felt the most, is when you are in a darkened theater, and your senses become overwhelmed while watching a movie. Any one of those elements – sound, light, character, plot, music, or tone – any one of these, alone, could not do what all of them brought together in a harmonious whole, could. There’s a particular type of movie that almost always gets me…you know the kind – inspirational – where the main actor(s) must overcome great odds to realize their dream. One of the coolest is where someone is a lousy dancer, but they dream, night and day of being a really good one and getting their non-committal body parts to work – like how? – you got it…synergistically!

I know that the movie has had a profound effect on me, when I get goosebumps up and down my arms, and the shivers up my spine. Sometimes a tear or two will leak out.

That’s the power of synergy. Now, Imagine the same movie, with the lights on in the theater, and a baby crying, and the sound track skips and the characters flub their lines; but the color is great, and there’s a real sharpness to detail and the story line is amazing. Even though a few of those things are pretty awesome – you still don’t get the same powerful rush of feeling, which can even alter your brain and body chemistry! – with just a few of those elements, do you? Especially, when you have competing, IN-harmonious elements, like the crying of the baby and a scratchy or intermittent soundtrack.

So…3+4 does not always equal 7. Mathematically, we’ve been taught that it certainly does. Now, I invite you to rethink that. Sometimes, 3+4 = 13. The individual numbers and what they add up to aren’t nearly as important as the concept that they convey:

WARNING: Technical stuff ahead!

Geometry will show this, as well. 1: is a point in space and time. 2: is a segment or a line created by infinite points in between the two. 3: creates the first enclosed shape – the triangle.